As one of the following third-party supporters for the upcoming PlayStation 4, Blazblue producer Toshimichi Mori explained to Japan’s Dengeki magazine about starting the console generation fresh with a fresh new IP.
“We can’t give you a definite title yet, but we want to make one,” he said. “We make fighting games, so we want to release a fighting game. We want to make a new title as a third axis along with BlazBlue and Guilty Gear.”
Mori describes that making new games at the transitional period between consoles — or during the “turning point of time”, as he describes it — defines Arc System Works. The Guilty Gear IP was originally made for the Sega Dreamcast, and its updates found their way on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The BlazBlue IP was first released during the early years of the PlayStation 3 (and Xbox 360 for us international folks) with Calamity Trigger, followed by the sequel Continuum Shift for the same system(s) — which had a couple of updates — and a second sequel coming to Japanese PS3s soon.
Ports for Blazblue Continuum Shift: Extend were released as launch titles for the Nintendo 3DS and Playstation Vita respectively. Releasing new fighters for each new generation is a historical trend for Arc System Works, and this trend will continue with the development for the new upcoming fighter.
So what will it be? It is evident that Arc System Works will continue making 2D fighters with anime-esque aesthetics and odd-ball characters, and yet we can only anticipate what crazy new world Arc System Works will take us. It’s only a matter of time before now.
